The primary objective of the MBRS program is to develop worthy and significant biomedical research at the University of Texas at El Paso, to enhance on-going faculty biomedical research capabilities, to foster a productive research environment and augment efforts of young investigators in developing biomedical research programs. This superlative atmosphere of research and scholarship has been recently augmented by the addition of several multi-user research facilities in Cell and Tissue Culture, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Analytical Cytology and Biostatistics. The MBRS Program at the University of Texas at El Paso has fostered and will continue to foster interdisciplinary approaches to solve problems in the biomedical sciences. In this proposal, 15 faculty from 4 departments will be involved in 14 projects in biochemistry, biostatistics, chemistry, molecular biology, molecular pathogenesis, membrane assembly, chemical modeling, bioremediation and immunology. Four of the projects are from investigators new to the University or the MBRS Program and this application includes three Associate Investigator sub-projects. The University of Texas at El Paso views the MBRS Program's support for individual research efforts as providing them with the opportunities to increase their competitive skills for entrance into the general pool of competition for biomedical research support. A second focus of the MBRS Program is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who chose careers in biomedical science or health professions by providing the means for these students to participate in original biomedical research and by providing a nurturing and supportive environment. Sixteen graduate and thirteen undergraduate student researchers will be employed and will be involved in all aspects of their respective research projects. The University will contribute substantially to the MBRS Program by providing partial release time from teaching duties for every faculty member. Release time will be at University expense with an approximate dollar value of $1,000,000 over the four years of proposal.